President Donald Trump claims he passed on the opportunity to be Time Magazine's person of the year after they called him and said he would "probably" be selected, but the magazine says the president's words were "incorrect."
"Time Magazine called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be named “Man (Person) of the Year,” like last year, but I would have to agree to an interview and a major photo shoot. I said probably is no good and took a pass. Thanks anyway!" Trump tweeted on Friday evening.
Time Magazine called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be named “Man (Person) of the Year,” like last year, but I would have to agree to an interview and a major photo shoot. I said probably is no good and took a pass. Thanks anyway!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 24, 2017
Just hours later the magazine issued a response that said Trump's story was not true. "The President is incorrect about how we choose Person of the Year. TIME does not comment on our choice until publication, which is December 6," the magazine tweeted.
The President is incorrect about how we choose Person of the Year. TIME does not comment on our choice until publication, which is December 6. — TIME (@TIME) November 25, 2017
Alan Murray, the magazine's chief content officer, also weighed in on Twitter and said that Trump's tweets didn't contain a "speck of truth."
"Amazing. Not a speck of truth here—Trump tweets he 'took a pass' at being named TIME's person of the year," Murray tweeted.
Amazing. Not a speck of truth here—Trump tweets he 'took a pass' at being named TIME's person of the year https://t.co/D6SJgyTpcY
— Alan Murray (@alansmurray) November 25, 2017
It's not the first time Trump has publicly collided with Time and it's certainly not the first time he has shown particular interest in who the magazine selects as person of the year.
Hanging in at least five of the president's clubs were framed copies of Time magazine from 2009 that featured Trump on the cover — but it was completely fake. Trump did however legitimately win the person of the year award in 2016, after defeating Hillary Clinton in the presidential election.
In 2015, Trump tweeted that the magazine "would never" pick him for the award.
"I told you @TIME Magazine would never pick me as person of the year despite being the big favorite They picked person who is ruining Germany," he tweeted, referring to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was selected as person of the year in 2015.
I told you @TIME Magazine would never pick me as person of the year despite being the big favorite They picked person who is ruining Germany — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 9, 2015
Trump, who is constantly yearning for more attention and praise, has not yet commented on the matter any further, but he was trolled by New York Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard.
Sports Illustrated called and said I was probably going to be Sportsman of the Year, but it was going to take a long photo shoot and interview. I’m not proud of my recent perm and have a interpretive dance class at the interview time so I turned it down! No Thanks SI!!
— Noah Syndergaard (@Noahsyndergaard) November 25, 2017
The current candidates for the magazine's person of the year award consist of: late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Saudi Arabia' Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, France's Emmanuel Macron, China's Xi Jinping, North Korea's Kim Jong Un and several others.
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